Using Proposition 8 To Teach Children Hate

When I came across this video at The Bilerico Project, I was horrified. Teaching children to discriminate is exactly how we perpetuate bigotry and hatred in our society. When a child is born they don’t care what their guardian does sexually, they only wanted to be loved unconditionally. It is adults that teach children that homosexuality is wrong.

Let’s stop and think about what this message is. Each day children see countless acts of violence and sexual imagery but somehow two people loving each other, building a life together is supposedly perverse. I’ll tell you what is obscene, teaching children that love is wrong. This no different than teaching children that someone is inferior because of their race, class, ability or gender. In my mind it is a form of child abuse. A child comes into this world an empty vessel, and to fill that little person with hate shows not only a lack of respect for them as little people, but a lack of respect for humanity as a whole.

The parents that decided to create this video did not stop to think for one minute about how their children would feel if they grew up and were gay. How will these children feel when they find out that they were used to promote a law that seeks to restrict their rights? I am sure that having bigoted parents is going to make it hard enough to make it though this world; without being saddled with the knowledge that they played a role in reducing the humanity of others.

I am not a perfect parent, no one is, but I am dedicated to expressing the value of humanity to my children. The very first time my son “Destruction” used the word fag as a pejorative, his father and I sat him down and explained that 1) that language is not welcome in this house and 2) love is the most beautiful emotion that someone can feel. It does not matter what form that love comes in, all that matters is that we can feel that way about another person. As a parent it sickens me beyond words that children were used in this way. As parents we have a responsibility to do our very best by our children, and this includes not filling their head with blatant falsehood, negative social constructions, and outright lies. Whatever lessons that we choose to pass on to the next generation should be based in love.